Afternoon Bender July 17, 2015

Here's our Afternoon Bender for today. There's some big news in the world of craft beer!

There are a lot of great festivals happening this weekend. Are you going to any? Let us know how it went!

Enjoy the weekend, everyone! We'll see you next week.

You probably know this already since you are reading a craft beer focused website but Ommegang, Boulevard and now Firestone Walker are all owned by Duvel Moortgat. Firestone was the latest to be acquired by this newest empire. The annoucement was made yesterday. All of these breweries make great beers so does it matter to the consumer that they are all owned by one larger company? The acquisition of Firestone Walker will make Duvel Moortgat the 7th largest maker of craft beer in the world, falling just behind some of the most hated companies in the craft world’s eyes – Miller and InBev. I am sure that most craft drinkers will LOVE this combination as more people will have access to the great beers that FW already makes. However, what happens if this conglomerate passes MillerCoors in terms of barrel production, or God forbid InBev, will people still feel the same way about this group? I love the move, but I love the vitriol on social media a little bit more.Official News on the Firestone Walker Site

Josh Noel pulls an article out of the archives that shows the "outrage" when a favorite brewery was purchased by Miller in 1987. If this never would have happened how would everyone complain about a Summer Shandy?Josh Noel on Twitter

Two of my favorite things in life (don't tell my wife!) are combined in this article highlighting the 7 best baseball stadiums for craft beer.7 Baseball Stadiums for Great Beer

We have a contributor this week! Adam K from Chicago sent over an article from the NYT naming the gose as a beer style that's great for cooling down in the summer. This is a great article that talks about some of the history behind the style and the boom the it's popularity over the last several years.Gose Is a Beer That Keeps Summer Cool